It was a ghastly picture of a girl who seemed my age, but pale-skinned her head shaved. “Whose picture is it, in my drawer, Ms. Bevins?” I asked the doctor.
A few minutes later I overheard Ms. Bevins instructing the nurse to take the mirror off of my drawer.
Divya is a story-teller, sorehead, whiner, occasionally a Pollyanna. (To sum it up – a personal/ lifestyle blogger!) She works for an IT company by day and blogs by night. Divya lives in India.
From beyond genesis, a silver capsule cuts through hyperspace, cheating time, closing in.
Technicians, entrepreneurs, and a huddle of wealthy stellar tourists are all spaced out with excitement.
Eighteen nervous extra-terrestrials zip up their endurance suits as the beautiful blue orb looms closer.
Survivor: Planet Earth is about to commence.
Tony Williams writes short stories, poems and song lyrics. He lives in Canberra, Australia with his artist wife, Arlene. Tony writes across the genres but has not yet settled down to any particular species. He would (of course) love to write a novel, but the step up from a few thousand words to a hundred thousand only looks feasible after a shiraz or three. Tony’s short stories have appeared in several small press print and online publications.
“Has mummy really gone?”
“I’m afraid she has, sweetie.”
“I miss mummy.”
“So do I. Don’t cry.”
“Let’s go get mummy, right now!”
“We can’t do that sweetie.”
“Where is she?”
“She’s in a much better place.”
“WHERE?”
“She’s gone to get a facial in a nice, quiet beauty salon.”
Connell explores the trauma of childhood separation and the joy it can bring parents who can escape for a few moments. While not believing in bribes, he’ll send an imaginary dollar for every ‘Like’ he receives with the full knowledge that he’ll probably receive imaginary ‘Likes’ or worse in return.
When I lifted the pin, the doll flinched. Her X eyes squinted as if she were in pain. I unceremoniously stabbed the red pin into her chest.
My heart shrivelled to a black thing in my chest.
Had the doll switched the cursed lock of hair for one of mine?
Jade Freeman is currently living in Boston and working on her MFA at
Emerson College. Her work has appeared in The Rain, Party, and Disaster Society.
“Mommy, why you crying?” He interlocks his warm little fingers with mine and squeezes tightly.
I look out the window. It is overtaking the horizon, blocking out the setting sun.
“Because I love you so much.”
“Are we gonna be alright?”
I squeeze back.
“Everything is going to be okay.”
Corey Niles had a 500-word flash fiction published in the fall issue of Eye Contact.
Any account of this game, without the express written consent of Major League Baseball, is strictly prohibited.
“Oh yeah?” thought Devin. He dialed the phone.
“Steve! Two home runs from Pujols! Nice pitching from Richards, too.”
Somewhere in New York, an alarm sounded.
Steve is still searching for his friend.
Dustin Petzold is a recent graduate of George Washington University and a resident of Washington DC. He co-founded Crooked Scoreboard, a blog focused on humor and culture in sports. He thinks this bio should be shorter than the story, so he’s ending it now.
The girl stood in the garden, staring at the strange red flower growing from the white rosebush. As she reached to pick it, its petals uncurled into wings and two small black eyes stared back.
The creature took off and disappeared into a nearby rosebush.
She laughed and chased after.
Sophia Netterfield is a university student studying Psychology because brains are bizarre.
In circles and circles she ran, never fast enough, carrying the weight of a small man’s ambitions.
He called her names, beat her, preened her. He looked her in the mouth. Always he watched, until one day he didn’t. She kicked, he fell.
She ran, and never turned left again.
Zack Desmond is a storytelling student from Sitka, Alaska, and would like to spend more time outdoors.
That spring, after a winter-long surge of solar flares disturbed Earth’s rotation, throwing calendars out of whack, Easter fell on a Tuesday. And my mother, months ahead of her oncologist’s calculations, began to rapidly decline.
“Fetch my wig,” she said from beneath her comforter. “God won’t recognize me like this.”
Over the years Bob Thurber’s work has received a long list of awards and prizes. His most recent book is a collection of brief stories titled “Nothing But Trouble”. Visit BobThurber.net.
My assignment is writing a lipogram excluding the letter ‘e’.
First frustration, followed by my head hurts. I lack the discipline, perhaps the vocabulary.
I would rather be at the dentist having a tooth pulled.
Inspired, I use a pair of pliers to excise the ‘e’ key from my keyboard.
Barry O’Farrell is an actor living in Brisbane, Australia. Barry’s stories can be found at Cyclamens and Swords, A Story In 100 Words, and here at 50 Word Stories.